The work shifted this week (October 17-23) to the patio and fire pit – and that meant Evandro and his crew were front and center as Ready Installs awaits window and door deliveries – all delayed by COVID.
We had decided that we needed to upgrade our plan to include paving stone patios, walkways, a wall, and a gas fire pit. This post will focus primarily on those aspects. Evandro had previously roughly marked out where these new parts would go and link in with the new garage and the new house deck.
On Monday, Evandro verified his lines and excavation began.
There was q lot of digging – and please note that this was done all by hand – no equipment other than hand tools.
On Wednesday, it rained. Thursday things picked up again. Subbase compaction began – some by hand and some by machine depending on the leach field presence underneath. Then crushed stone started being brought in and spread.
Friday saw a continuation of Thursday’s efforts.
However, it became obvious that Evandro wanted to catch up for Wednesday, so work proceeded on Saturday as well. The work was focused on building concrete forms for the back wall and the fire pit, and lastly placement of hand-mixed concrete. Evandro had an amazing drone that he used to take some photos and videos that will eventually show his work start to finish – and I hope to share a link for that when its available. The drone was able to self-stabilize in the wind and could reach heights of 500 feet!
The back wall was formed and placed.
The fire pit wall was started.
The crew worked past sunset on Saturday, and got good progress – though I had to wait until Sunday to have enough light to take a picture.
As I write this in week 15, it has been rainy and this is as far as we have gotten progress-wise. However, I bet Evandro hits the ground running when it dries up.
I hope this was enjoyable and thanks for taking a look. I may even do a hobby post shortly!
Mark A. Morin 
Some great looking progress Mark, and the new path and fire pit should tie the two areas together nicely
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Cheers Dave!
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Mad props to a crew that dogs by hand. I don’t know what your yard is like, but mine is like concrete when its dry, and a sticky mess when wet. Digging a small hoke is a pain. Excavating for a patio? Those guys ARE the machines.
Looking good, Mark!
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Yeah, they are studs. The soil is about 8” or so of loam then sand, so it’s not too bad, but it’s a big area. Using equipment is risky because the leach field is under there too in places, so best option was the Burma Road approach.
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The pathways look really good! 🙂 Another week with quite a bit of progress as well!
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Thanks John, I agree!
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Looking good there. Will be a great place to relax once it has been finished.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Cheers Pete!
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Every update adds a new bit of excitement. I wasn’t expecting the fire pit but looking forward to seeing this now!
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Cool! Originally the fire pit wasn’t part of the plan, and neither were the walkways. As we thought about getting back and forth to the new building, walkways were a good idea, and then my wife got more ideas…good ones though.
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Looking great Mark, I have to admit watching the project for this build is almost as much fun as watching your updates for a gaming project…mmm…maybe a new hobby is beckoning.
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Thanks Anthony, but I’d be happy to have more time for the old hobbies at this point! But Historicon is coming…
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That’s some tidy landscape work there mate. I hope you’re paying them well. The drone sounds cool and o look forward to seeing the vids and pix it’s takes
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Thanks Luke. I do believe I am paying them all quite well, and getting good value so far. I’m dying to see the drone shots too and the time lapse video.
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Looking fantastic Mark. Really enjoying seeing the progress of this amazing project. You must be pleased seeing your vision come to light. 🙂
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Thanks Dave, glad you’re enjoying it.
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Wow sorry I missed this one, great progress, and I love that curved wall, very posh!
Cheers Roger.
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Looking great, Mark! This is gonna be sweet!
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Looking good mate!!
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Thanks Pat!
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